Crashing Calamity
by Dance Elle Dance
Summary: Ariadne knows she has it bad when - as soon as she catches sight of the pair of gaudy, fuzzy red dice hanging from her rear view mirror - she thinks of him. ArthurAriadne, oneshot


_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Inception._

_**Summary: Ariadne knows she has it bad when - as soon as she catches sight of the pair of gaudy, fuzzy red dice hanging from her rear view mirror - she thinks of him. ArthurAriadne, oneshot**_

_So, this movie = love. Pure and simple. I've heard all the hype and seen the previews, and now I've finally gotten to see it, and I fell in love with it. The casting was perfect, and the characters were so likable and interesting. I was really happy with the movie, so naturally, I had to write fanfiction on it (especially fics that can't even compare to this movie, but I digress). Anyway, I hope that y'all enjoy this fic of mine! I know I'll enjoy writing it!_

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**Crashing Calamity**

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She wasn't one for pining.

Anyone who knew Ariadne would tell you that, of course.

She was more into her studies than anyone else. She didn't have time for boys because they were...well, boys. Just that. Only boys. With about the maturity level of a puppy. She had no reason to want any of them, though they wanted her... And Ariadne wasn't just being cocky or arrogant or anything of the sort. Of course, she wasn't the most desirable person at school, but still, she could tell when a guy was checking her out - as rare as that was.

But now, there's this one guy who's making her feel like the worst of the worst at being just a damsel when she is anything and everything _but_.

She shouldn't even have to feel like this. She should be all about the job, all about everything except him. Except..._Arthur_.

Ariadne sighs as she walks through the various pathways of the shopping mall. It's just your typical mall, typical people, typical setting. Her eyes roam around the place, taking in her surroundings. This particular mall is the biggest one in the state, for good reason. Even thought Ariadne didn't really see the appeal of giant, spacious places like this, she sometimes enjoyed looking at the build of the structure. She would look at various things and think to herself how she could change it, mold it into something better. Sure, this was more difficult outside of the dream world, but still, she found herself wondering.

There aren't many stores where she finds her gaze wandering. They mostly focus on the architecture of the building, rather than the goods inside the stores.

On occasion, however, she finds her eyes stealing a look at a cute blouse here and there. A pair of shoes. A display rack of on-sale DVDs pressed precariously near the glass.

Even now, she doesn't know what draws her to it...

She's walking along, muting everything else around her except the calming sound of her shoes on the tiled floor beneath her, when she sees it. An item that catches her fancy so abruptly, that she halts.

The stopping of her movement is so brisk that a woman almost runs smack into her. Ariadne turns to the elder woman, smiles an apology but only half-feels it, and then moves her eyes back to the item in the window.

At the time, she doesn't see what so draws her to the pair of fuzzy red dice, hanging over a random coat rack in some pre-teen focused store, but she doesn't give it much thought. The dice have pulled her into the store, almost as if they have hands of their own, and she finds herself inside the store. It's almost like an out-of-body experience as she walks through the various displays of clothing too skimpy to give to adults, much less to almost-teenagers.

Her hands find purchase on the pair of dice, and she holds them in her hands. They are the usual, cheesy dice that she has seen hanging over most of her pot-smoking friends' rear-view mirrors. They are a vibrant red, splattered with white dots. She grips the dice tightly in her hands as she moves to the check-out counter, mind still blank. It's almost as if someone else has taken over her.

It's not until the cashier asks her, with a wondering expression, "Will that be all today?", that she snaps out of her daze and truly looks at her surroundings. A cheesy, bubblegum pop song is playing over the speakers, and the clothes around her are way too... She's not sure of the word to describe them, but she knows it isn't a pleasant one. The person in front of her has bleached blonde hair, fake nails, and an even faker tan. She cocks her head to the side and repeats the question.

Ariadne bolts to attention and then gives the girl a smile, "Uh, yeah."

The girl - _Jessica_, by the name on her tag - takes the dice from her hands and swipes the tag.

"Two fifty," she pops her gum as she announces the price.

Ariadne smiles awkwardly, she knows she has that much in her pocket, and fishes out the correct change as well as two crumpled bills. Jessica takes the money and puts it into the cash register, handing her the dice in a plastic bag as well as a receipt. "Thank you, and have a nice day," the blonde says with all the enthusiasm of someone about to get a root canal.

"You too." Ariadne smiles and turns to get out of the painfully awkward store and back to...well, the _normality _of the mall.

She walks in a daze out the doors and into the parking lot. Being mindful of the other cars, she walks carefully to her own. She takes out the keys and unlocks the car with a _beep_.

Climbing into the driver's seat, she shivers lightly. It is quite cold outside, and she glances her reflection in her mirror and sees red cheeks and an even redder nose. Her hand shivers as she tries to put the key into the slot. She cranks the car and hears the engine turn over satisfyingly.

Ariadne flips her hair over her shoulder to get it out of her face and looks over to the lone plastic bag seated awkwardly on the passenger seat. Her eyes roam over it before she takes the bag in her hands, and maneuvers the fuzzy dice out of the bag. She looks at them, feels the softness of the novelty item in her hands, and a smile crosses her face before she even realizes it's there. In one swift movement, she whips the string that connects the dice together over the rear view mirror and looks contentedly at them.

As her eyes scan over the dice, she puts the car in reverse and backs out of the parking space.

Then, it clicks.

_Oh, I have it bad. _She thinks, looking at the dice that swing so innocently in front of her. She gets a flash of dark eyes, dark hair, and impeccable suits and almost punches herself.

But still, she moves out of the parking lot and onto the road, going in a completely different direction than her house. Ariadne knows where she is going, and it makes her very antsy all of a sudden. The foot that isn't manning the gas and break pedals is tapping madly. She makes several turns and ends up going down the road to the lavish hotel where _he _is staying.

She gets out, but not before grabbing the offending item from the mirror and locking the car itself.

Her stride is purposeful, but she feels an underlying anxiety clawing at her from the inside, out. The tacky dice dangle from her fingers and she gets several strange looks as she steps into the elevator, pressing the button for the eighth floor. He had told her which hotel he was staying in and what room just in case she wanted to talk after the inception was over and done with...

_"Because it is a major thing, after all. Altering someone's thoughts like that." _She remembered his words as if they had been spoken yesterday.

Ariadne shook her head to clear her mind of the various kinds of strange this was, and just set her feet to walking down the hallway to his room. She was staying at some dinky little motel before she could catch the next flight out, and here he was, living in a hotel just as fancy as his clothes.

She looks at the doors, trying to recall the number he had given her. Ariadne finds one that seems to fit the bill, and walks to it. Before her knuckles rap the door with a timidity that is not like her, she prays that it is Arthur that answers the door and not some overweight businessman in a robe.

Footsteps, so light that she has to strain to hear them, approach the door, and then the knob is turning and Ariadne is almost gasping for breath at the stupidity of her to just come barging...

"Ariadne?"

It's him, standing in the doorway, just as she wanted. And it's almost like a weight has been lifted off of her shoulders.

"Hey..." she offers weakly, not able to look away from him. It has been a while since she's last seen him, and she's almost forgotten how attractive he is.

A flash of his lips on hers breaks into her thoughts, and she starts to blush lightly.

"You alright?" He asks, the usual calm tone to his voice now has something akin to concern lacing it.

Ariadne shakes her head to clear herself, to get her head back on straight, and then she looks down at the red dice hanging limply from her curled fingers. Arthur follows her gaze and then his eyes rest on the item in her hands. A smile slowly creeps across his features, almost catlike in its playfulness. "What's that?"

"Err..." Ariadne had been so preoccupied with getting here that she hadn't even figured out a decent excuse for the dice.

Arthur waits patiently for her response, though, despite her apparent cluelessness.

"Here," she finally says, holding out the dice like she's a guilty kid caught shoplifting.

His brow furrows for second, before realization comes across his face. Ariadne watches as he reaches inside his pocket, most likely to finger the die he carries with him everywhere - the very item that the large, goofy ones in her hand try to replicate. He looks at her then, and a smile breaks across his features, making a dimple stick out, crinkling his eyes with delight. The very sight of it is enough to take her breath away.

Arthur holds his hand out and she places the dice in his hand, their fingers touching in the process. He looks like he is stifling his laughter.

"And these," he snorts, "are for me?"

Ariadne looks up at him now, for the first time since she started talking. Her cheeks are red and the blood is rushing through her veins as indignity sneaks in, "You could at least say _thank you_."

"You're right," Arthur says, his eyes on hers now, just as his hand closes around the fuzzy dice. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

He's never been a man of many words, but she realizes that the words he does say are almost always in her mind, circling around like some kind of carousel. She looks at him and runs a hand through her hair.

"I just saw them in some store...and I uh - I thought of you."

The smile is back now, in full force.

"I'm honored," he says loftily, but with sincerity, she realizes.

"Good," she asserts, and he laughs.

A look ghosts across his face, something that she can't decipher, but it looks strange on him nonetheless. Alien.

"You doing alright?" Arthur asks, sounding concerned just slightly. He's not the type of man to openly show any kind of emotion, and this shocks her.

"I'm doing fine," she replies, taken aback. "Why?"

"I can't ask how you are without an inquisition, huh?"

Ariadne purses her lips at him, and he grins once more.

The look on his face changes yet again, and she wonders what he is going to do now. Arthur places his slim hand on the edge of the door, opening it more than it was, gesturing for her to come in.

She cocks an eyebrow at him, and he explains, "I haven't seen you in a while. Want some coffee? You look freezing."

Ariadne looks at him skeptically, wondering what could possibly be going through his head because she knows him well enough to realize that he doesn't always say what's on his mind. That's something everyone on their team knows.

But, she looks at him again, and realizes with a sinking feeling in her stomach that she wants to go inside. His features rearrange into an inviting smile, as if sensing her decision.

"Coffee...does sound pretty good right now." Ariadne says as she walks through the threshold and into the quaint hotel room.

The door is shut behind her, and soon laughter and conversation is heard from even outside the door.

To anyone passing by, it would seem like two old friends catching up.

But later in the day, when Arthur plants his lips on hers yet again, Ariadne knows that _friends _isn't the definition of the two of them anymore.

She isn't sure _what _the definition of them is anymore, but she just knows that it feels..._right_.

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_**End.**_

_There ya have it! My first Inception fanfic. I don't plan for this one to be my last, either! I absolutely love this fandom, and I had so much fun writing this little piece. I hope that y'all enjoyed this. I would really appreciate it if y'all reviewed, it would make my day. _

_Thanks so much for reading!_

_And - Happy New Year! _


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